


Conditioning After

by A Crimson Phoenix (cw151)



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, One thinks the other is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 02:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13560306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cw151/pseuds/A%20Crimson%20Phoenix
Summary: David brought up his hands to pull at his hair.“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he said, his eyes finding Sarah’s. “He can’t do this again. He just can’t.”Sarah’s face was anguished as she came over to him.“We’ll have to tell him,” she said hauntingly. “We’re the only ones who know about her and him. No one else will contact him.”David closed his eyes and shook his head.“David.” Sarah grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. “There is no other choice. We have to tell him now.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on a prompt by a lovely anon on tumblr: 
> 
> "Karen is forced to fake her own death while recovering from an injury all because of Wilson Fisk, she doesn't know Frank actually believes she's dead. He goes batshit insane and he's set on getting himself killed and destroy Fisk. Foggy, or JJ or even Matt (redemption arc! he can go back to being a decent friend) are somehow able to get him the message. Him and Karen move in the middle of nowhere and rescue pits together."
> 
> I made a few changes; for one, I couldn't really see Karen faking her own death without letting Frank know immediately, and I also decided not to bring in Matt or Foggy, but the gist remains the same. :)

David was just re-joining Sarah in the kitchen after bringing Frank a coffee in the garage where he was fixing their electric door opener.

_“… and we’re back! You’re listening to Trish Talk,”_ the radio was announcing in the background while Sarah was tidying up the kitchen. _“I’m shocked and saddened at some breaking news that we have just received. This morning, at 10.32 am, Bulletin-reporter Karen Page was gunned down outside the Bulletin offices by an unknown assailant. Even though a nearby witness immediately called 911, Miss Page was pronounced dead at the scene.”_ Trish’s voice was somber and she paused for a second. Sarah’s head whipped around to David, who stared at the radio with wide eyes. _“I cannot put into words what a big loss Miss Page’s death is to our profession. I had the opportunity to meet her during one of the most serious and tense events our city faced in recent years. She was a fearless, dedicated reporter whose work has uncovered some of the greatest crimes in Hell’s Kitchen, and she will be missed by many, both professionally and personally. We will update you as soon as we know more about this tragic event.”_

 

David brought up his hands to pull at his hair.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he said, his eyes finding Sarah’s. “He can’t do this again. He just can’t.”

Sarah’s face was anguished as she came over to him.

“We’ll have to tell him,” she said hauntingly. “We’re the only ones who know about her and him. No one else will contact him.”

David closed his eyes and shook his head.

“David.” Sarah grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. “There is no other choice. We have to tell him now.”

“Wait,” David said. He pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up a few major news websites. They were full of reports about the shooting, many with pictures to match. Two blurry ones showed Karen’s body on the floor behind a police car.

David swore and hit the palm of his hand on the kitchen island in front of him. Sarah squeezed his arm compassionately.

David closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. Then he turned off the radio that was playing a slow song by now, and walked back to the garage with Sarah right behind him.

 

Frank was just testing the remote connection and the door was opening wide, giving way to the view of Frank’s van parked on the street outside.

“Good as new,” Frank said with a satisfied smile.

“Hey, Frank, uh,” David wiped his forehead. Sarah hovered a few steps behind him. Frank turned to face him.

“Hm?” he asked as he wiped his hands on a towel.

David swallowed. How was he supposed to say this?

“We just heard something on the radio… ah … There was a shooting this morning, in front of the Bulletin offices.” Frank’s face turned hard, and David swallowed again. “Karen, uh, she … she died,” he said with a shaky voice.

Disbelief spread across Frank’s features.

“’s not possible. She wasn’t even working on anything dangerous,” Frank said, his voice rough.

David winced, and Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.

“No, it’s true. We googled it. There were pictures and reports everywhere,” he said with gritted teeth. “Frank, we’re so sorry.”

Frank’s face seemed dazed, and his eyes darted about wildly.

“Frank, maybe you should come in and sit down,” Sarah asked carefully as she came closer.

Frank shook his head.

“Nah, I gotta, I gotta…” he broke off and suddenly stalked past them towards his van. David and Sarah scrambled after him.

“Frank! Frank, wait! You really shouldn’t drive now, buddy, I mean it. Frank! Frank, stop,” David called as he ran after him.

Frank ignored, him, however, and was seated in his van in two seconds.

“Frank, stop!” David yelled out again, but Frank was already racing down the street.

 

 

Her head felt like it was about to explode.

“Hey, hey, don’t move,” she heard someone say next to her. A woman. The voice sounded familiar somehow, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Stay still, you hit your head real bad. And you got shot, but that was just a graze, lucky for you,” the voice said again, and someone stroked her upper arm soothingly.

Karen tried to force her eyes open, but her eyelids were far too heavy, and a few seconds later, she was out again. 

 

 

“Is that Pete’s van?” Leo asked as she was loading the dishwasher later that night. She pointed through the kitchen window. David quickly followed the line of her finger.

“Yeah, yeah it is. Uh, you two, could you please go upstairs? There’s something I need to talk to Pete about in private.”

Leo and Zach just looked at each other but then made their way upstairs without a word. David walked over to the front door and watched them disappear on the upper landing before he pulled it open. He startled when he found himself face-to-face with Frank. He didn’t look good. His long hair and beard were gone once more, and he was dressed in black cargo pants and a black Henley. There was a wild but determined expression on his face that David had last seen just before Thanksgiving ten months prior.

“How are you? We were really worried about you,” David said as he stepped aside to let Frank in, who ignored his question.

“You need to get me the police reports,” he said grimly, fixing David with an angry stare.

“Ah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” David replied anxiously. “What do you want with them?”

Frank just stared at him.

David rolled his head slightly.

“Come on, Frank, please, don’t go back to that. Karen wouldn’t want that for you,” he pleaded.

“Karen’s dead,” Frank replied in a rough and unforgiving tone. “And I’ma kill every son of a bitch that had anythin’ to do with that.”

“Frank – “

“She’s dead, Lieberman, ok? She’s dead!” Frank suddenly exploded. His eyes were glassy, and his expression was almost helpless.

“Please.” His voice broke. “I need to … I need to…” He broke off in a huff.

David stared at him intently and then nodded slowly.

“Ok,” he whispered. He walked over to his laptop on the dining room table and sat down in front of it. Frank pulled up a chair next to him.

In less than five minutes, David had hacked into the police’s computer system and found the report. They scanned it together.

“ _According to witness statements, a yellow taxi (company and license plate unidentified) pulled up next to Ms Karen Page at 10.32 am on October 10 th 2018 as she was leaving the Bulletin office building to conduct an interview at the mayor’s office scheduled for 11.15 am. Three shots were fired in rapid succession at Ms. Page’s head from the window of the left back-seat of the taxi. Witness statements disagree as to whether there were two or three persons in the car, but unanimously report that the driver and the shooter were wearing black ski masks and black outfits. After the third shot, the taxi immediately drove off in the direction of 42nd street but could not be tracked afterwards due to the high number of yellow taxis on that street._

_Mr. Jonathan McGuire witnessed the incident from his hot dog stand next to the Bulletin building and immediately called emergency services at 911. An ambulance arrived at 10.37 am and pronounced Ms Page dead on arrival.  
Officers Michael Ellis and Liane Webster arrived at the scene at 10.36 am. They secured the crime scene and notified Homicide and Forensics. Detectives Brett Mahoney and Jezebel Cole arrived at 10.43 am. Detective Mahoney authorized the delivery of the body to NYC Mortuary at 10.58 am.”_

“So, what are you going to do with that? Not even the police seem to have an idea who it was,” David asked carefully.

“Someone always knows something,” Frank replied and stood. He walked a few steps towards the front door and then stopped but didn’t turn around. His hands were clenching at his side.

“Thank you,” he said coarsely. “For – everything. ‘m glad you got your family again. Tell Leo and Zach…” He paused. “I’m done, Lieberman. ‘m done.”

“Frank, wait, Frank –“ David shouted, but just like this morning, Frank was too fast for him.

David cursed and put his hands on his hips.

 

“Dad?” Leo appeared on the top of the stairs.

David tried to smooth over his face. “Yes, honey?”

“Is Pete alright?” Leo asked timidly.

David sighed.

“No, he’s not,” he replied as he walked towards the stairs. “He’s very sad and upset because someone he loved died.”

Leo’s face fell. “I wish we could help him,” she said compassionately.

“Me too, honey, me too,” David said.


	2. Chapter 2

David stared up at the stone and glass building that was the NYC Mortuary. He didn’t actually know what he was doing here. All he knew was that he had to help Frank somehow.

Once he was inside, the receptionist greeted him politely.

 

“Hi, ah, I’m here to … a friend of mine, she died and the police told me that she was brought here. I’m supposed to identify her.” David adjusted the strap of his laptop bag and prayed that his excuse for being there didn’t sound too far off.

“Ok, could you please tell me your name? And could you please give me your ID? I’m assuming the officers are meeting you here?” David nodded and reached for his wallet in the laptop bag.

“Her name is Karen Page,” he said as he was trying to think of a way to get past her without the officers she’d asked about.

“Page as in P-a-g-e?” the receptionist asked. David nodded.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have anyone by that name here,” she said. “Maybe you’re in the wrong place? Where did your friend die? Maybe the officers brought her to the mortuary in Brooklyn?”

David stilled.

“No, I’m pretty sure they said here… Maybe she’s not listed under her name but as Jane Doe or something, given that I still have to identify her?” he asked slowly.

The receptionist typed something on her keyboard.

“No, we don’t have any unidentified bodies here at the moment, actually,” she said with a confused look. “Maybe you can check with the officers again?”

“Yeah, sure,” David murmured as he made his way back outside.

This was weird. He’d seen the autopsy report last night when he’d hacked into their system. It had said that Karen died from a shot through the head and that there were no further injuries. Maybe her body had been moved already? But where to? He couldn’t imagine that anyone would have been able to put together a funeral in less than 24 hours.

So when he was back in his car, he called Frank.

 

“What do you want, Lieberman?” Frank asked curtly when he picked up on the tenth ring.

David rolled his eyes.

“To help you,” he responded sarcastically. “You know, like friends do?”

There was a pause.

“Should’ve stuck to what I said back then,” Frank finally said. “I don’t do partners.”

David sighed.

“Do we really have to go there again?”

“Yeah we do! You’re blind if you don’t see it. I get people killed! My family, Karen … don’t want you and your family next on the list.”

David knew that there wasn’t any point arguing with Frank about that.

“We won’t be.” He really hoped he was right. “Besides, I’m already in the middle of some very interesting things!”

“What? Fuck, Lieberman, you listen to me –“ Frank bellowed angrily I his ear.

“No, you listen for once,” David interrupted him. “I just went to the morgue. Karen’s not there.”

Frank was silent for a moment. “What you mean?” he asked.

“She’s not there, nor is any other Jane Doe or whatever type of unidentified body. There is an autopsy report in the system though, and it says she died from a head wound. But why would anyone pick her up already? And most of all, who?”

Frank just huffed.

“Did you find anything out?” David asked impatiently. He wasn’t in the mood for pulling teeth.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “It was Fisk. Got out of prison about a week ago, but it was kept on the down-low. Put a hit out on her yesterday. Nobody knows why. Got the shooter talking.”

David really didn’t want to know how Frank had found the shooter, nor how he’d gotten him to talk.

“So, what now?” he asked.

Frank huffed angrily. “What you think’s going to happen? I’ma kill Fisk.”

David blinked. “You realize that that’s going to put a giant target on your back, right? Assuming you make it out of wherever you chose to put him down alive, every single criminal in this town is going to go after you.”

“That’s the plan,” Frank confirmed, his voice void of all emotion.   
“What, to get yourself killed? Frank – “

“Lieberman, again, thanks for all your help. But this is it, ok? I gotta do this. I’m done. Better for everyone.”

“No, wait, Frank –“ David tried to reason with him, but Frank had already hung up the phone. David cursed, pulled his laptop out of his bag, and used his phone as a mobile hotspot to locate Frank’s sim card, but without use. Knowing Frank, he’d probably crushed it right after their call.

 

Suddenly there was a knock on the window of his car.

David’s head whipped around and was faced with a dark-haired, light-skinned woman in a leather jacket and jeans who had bent down to look into his car.

“Are you David Lieberman?” she said loudly.

“Who’s asking?” David replied, closing his laptop nervously.

The woman just rolled her eyes, and suddenly jumped over his car and landed next to his passenger door. She opened it, grabbed his laptop bag, and dug through it. When she found his wallet, she pulled out his ID, looked at it with an expression that said “see!”, threw everything back into the bag and flopped down on the passenger seat.

“Hey! Who are you? What do you want?” David asked, part annoyed, part scared as he pulled the bag from her grasp on to his lap.

“My name is Jessica Jones. I’m a private investigator. I’m looking for Frank Castle. Karen said you’d know where he is,” she said with a bored expression.

David sniffed and grimaced. The woman – Jessica – smelled like she’d been drinking for five days straight. Then his brain caught up with that she’d just said.

“Karen?” he asked.

“Yeah, Karen Page? Blonde, blue eyes, journalist?” Jessica replied, clearly annoyed that their conversation was drawing out this long.

“When did you talk to her? Because you’re a bit late. Both of them are dead,” David said, still trying to make sense of the woman in front of him and determined not to give her any information she shouldn’t have.

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Cut the bullshit. Frank Castle, Pete Castiglione, whatever. I know that he’s not dead. The thing is, Karen isn’t dead either, and she really wants Frank to know that cos she thinks that he might do something very stupid otherwise. Said we can trust you,” she said. “So, where is he?”

David was just staring at her. Jessica raised her eyebrows.

 

David took a deep breath.

“Karen died. Yesterday. I saw the pictures online, I read the police report, and the autopsy report. She was shot in the head yesterday morning in front of her office,” he said slowly, whether to convince her or him, he wasn’t quite sure.

“Yeah, I know what it says in the reports, and we’re happy to keep it that way. But the truth is that the bullet just grazed her and the other two were nowhere near her head. Fisk promised 2 million dollars to anyone who’d kill her. Attracted not just the professionals but the amateurs, too. Lucky for her. Mahoney had been tipped off on the hit and saw that she’d survived but just hit her head really hard. Had her transported to the mortuary and called in a favor asking me to get her as soon as she was brought in.  All the reports in the system are fake. She’s in my apartment. As soon as she woke up, she was asking about Frank Castle. She’s worried he’s going to kill half the town. Looking at his track record, that seems like a fair assumption, so I’m trying to track him down. Karen’s stuff is with the police, so she doesn’t have his number and told me to find you. It’d be great if you could tell me ‘cos I have better things to do than to track down some girl’s melodramatic boyfriend.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth? You have to admit, this all sounds completely crazy,” he said, ignoring the annoyance that was rising in him at Jessica’s description of Frank as melodramatic.

Jessica looked at him with an expression that said “seriously, dude?” but pulled her phone out of her pocket. She video-called someone named Claire, and after a few seconds, a black woman’s face with energetic eyes and a no-nonsense expression filled the screen.

“Could you pass the phone to Karen? I found Lieberman but he doesn’t believe me that Karen’s alive,” Jessica said with a suffering tone.

“ _Hello to you too Jessica_ ,” Claire replied with exaggerated friendliness. Then her voice dropped to its normal level. “Sure, one sec.” The video got blurry for a few seconds, and then focused on what was unmistakably Karen’s face. She was wearing a bandage around her head, and she was pale with large shadows under her eyes.

 

Jessica angled the phone so that the camera caught David.

 

“Karen, Christ, are you alright?” he asked, still not quite believing what he was seeing.

“David, yes, I’m fine, really,” she said with a wet laugh. “I’m sorry that you had to find out this way. But Brett is sure that Fisk’s hit on me means that people are going to continue to come after me. Can’t kill someone who’s dead already.”

David nodded.

“David, can you please tell Frank what’s going on? I’m really worried that he’s going to do something stupid,” she said.

David raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.

“Oh no, what? What has he done?” Karen asked worriedly.

“Uh, so, the guys who took a shot at you will no longer be able to collect their prize money,” he said evasively. Karen bit her lip and looked to the side.

“And?” she asked with a small sigh.

“And he has decided that he is going to kill Fisk and that it’s ok if he dies trying,” David continued slowly.

Karen’s eyes shot back to him.

“No! David, you have to stop him! Call him, right now!” she pleaded urgently.

“I promise I will do everything I can to find him. But he’s destroyed his SIM card and I have no means of contacting him right now,” he said calmly. Jessica sighed deeply, but more out of annoyance than compassion, and dropped her head against the headrest. Karen moaned agitatedly.

“Please, David,” she begged.

“I will do whatever I can, I promise,” he reassured her. Then he had an idea. “Do one thing for me though. Send a picture of you right now to my phone and Jessica’s, ok? Jessica will text you my number in a few minutes. We’ll probably need proof to convince Frank.”

Karen nodded and set her jaw.

“We’ll keep you updated,” David said, and Jessica turned the phone back to her to end the call.

 

David blinked, crossed his hands on the steering wheel, and rested his head on top of it. He recited his number and Jessica typed it into her phone.

“Is there _any_ way that you can find him?” she asked.  

“I can try gait recognition, but he outsmarted that last time,” he said muffled by his arm.

Jessica dropped the phone in her lap and fixed him with an admonishing stare. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later the two of them were in an abandoned office building that David had turned into his new base of operations as Micro.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your little spot,” Jessica had said mockingly when he’d looked at her meaningfully as he let the two of them in.

David ran the gait recognition software and turned on the police scanner for good measure. He also ran a software searching for Frank’s van on traffic cameras.

 

They waited for several hours but nothing happened. Jessica had gone out shortly and returned with a bottle of whiskey and a bag of chips.

Now, they were just staring at the screens in front of them.

At around 11 pm, they heard something over the police scanner.

“ _Calling all units to 555 10 th Avenue. Severe firefights reported on floors 55 and 56. I repeat. Calling all units to 555 10th Avenue. Severe firefights reported on floors 55 and 56._”

“Sounds like that’s the place to be!” Jessica said. She and David got into his car and quickly weaved to the traffic.

“So, what’s the plan?” David asked nervously.

“No idea,” Jessica replied. “Usually, I just wing it.”

David’s head whipped around to face her.

“What? We can’t do that here! The building’s going to be full of Fisk’s men _and_ the police! Plus, it’s huge! They’ve probably blocked the elevators and the staircase is going to be swarming with people!”

“Eyes on the road!” Jessica pushed his head forwards again and sighed. “Look, I’m going to jump up the 56th floor, find Frank, take him back down with me, you’ll be there waiting with the car, and we’ll drive off.”

“What does that mean you’ll _jump_?” David asked.

“It means what I said,” Jessica replied. They were nearing 555 10th Avenue and she directed him into a small alleyway next to the building. The red and blue lights of the police cars were flashing around the corner, but where they were standing, it was difficult to spot their car.

Jessica got out and leant back down before she closed the door.

“Keep the engine running and be ready to go any time,” she instructed him. David nodded.

Jessica turned around, bent her knees and suddenly, she was gone.

David opened his eyes wide and leant forward to look up along the skyscraper from underneath the windshield, but it was impossible to see anything up there in the dark.

 

Jessica landed next to the pool on the terrace of the 56th floor and grimaced. The room behind the floor-length windows looked like a slaughterhouse. There was blood all over the white and silver surfaces, there were bullet holes in the walls and in the windows, and dead bodies everywhere. Jessica swayed for a second and closed her eyes. The place reminded her too much of the apartment in which she had found Kilgrave’s father.

“Main Street. Birch Street. Higgins Drive. Cobalt Lane,” she quietly recited to herself before opening her eyes again and stepping determinedly towards the terrace door. She yanked it open and was immediately met with the ferric smell of blood.

She scrunched her nose and slowly walked into the apartment.

“What’d you do that for, huh? Puttin’ out that kinda money on’er head? She was just a paralegal. Murdock was the one who did you in,” she heard a gruff voice talking over another man’s quiet moans.

“She deserved it,” the other voice replied spitefully and then screamed in pain. Jessica carefully walked around a wall in the center of the room and found herself faced with Fisk’s huge body on the floor, half-leaning against a wall, and the Punisher standing over him in a black jacket bearing a white skull and cargo pants. There was a huge wound on Fisk’s left shoulder, and Frank was pressing down on it with the barrel of a large gun he was holding in his left hand. He also had a hand gun in his right, and from the looks of it, he had already shot both of Fisk’s knees.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door and a muffled voice yelled “Police! Open the door! We’ve blocked all exits. Give up now!”

Frank paid them no attention and just pressed the gun deeper into Fisk’s wound, drawing a strangled sound from him.

“Why?” Frank repeated his question coldly.

Fisk looked up at him defiantly.

“She killed Wesley,” he yelled suddenly. “He was my friend and she killed him.”

Frank set his jaw.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure she had a good reason for it.”

He raised his right hand with the hand gun and aimed it at Fisk’s head. “Don’t worry, you’ll see your friend again real soon.”

“Oi,” Jessica yelled and Frank turned his head and the hand gun towards her sharply. His eyes were wild and there was blood all over his face. It was difficult to tell whether it was his or someone else’s.

Jessica raised her hands defensively.

“No need to shoot me, I’m here to help,” she said sternly, but Frank didn’t move.

Jessica sighed.

“You can put that thing away,” she said pointing at the gun Frank was still aiming at her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You going to stop me?” he asked with a rough voice.

Jessica nodded. “I’ll try,” she said warily.

Frank wrinkled his nose, and then he returned his handgun to its original aim and shot Fisk point-blank in the head. Jessica flinched.

“Too late,” Frank said as Fisk’s head fell forward on to his chest, his dead eyes staring straight ahead. Frank turned to her, his weapons lowered at his sides. “Take me in, shoot me, don’t care.”

Jessica openly rolled her eyes at him. She reached into the pocket of her leather jacket, pulled out her phone, and pulled up Karen’s photo.

“She’s not dead,” she said matter-of-factly. “A bit banged up from hitting her head on the floor after the bullet grazed her, but definitely not dead.”

Frank disbelievingly stared at the photo in her hand. In the background, Jessica could hear the police working on the door to the apartment.

“You’re lying,” Frank murmured. “‘s impossible. She’s dead. Got transferred to the morgue.”

“No, she wasn’t,” Jessica reiterated with a fake smile. “And those police men are going to come in any minute and shoot you. Are you coming with me or not?”

“Let’em come,” he mumbled to himself, turning away from her. “It’ll finally be over.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow, let out a big sigh, and punched him square in the face. She caught him before he fell to the floor, and kicked his weapons to opposite corners of the room when they fell from his hands. Then she lifted him over her shoulder and walked back out on to the terrace.

 

David startled when Jessica suddenly appeared next to the car again with a loud “thud”.

“Oh my God,” David moaned when he saw the state of him. “Is he –“

“No, just had to knock him out,” Jessica said impatiently. David let out a sigh of relief.

Jessica slid into the passenger seat and took a huge sip from a bottle of whiskey she’d swiped from the apartment. “Alright then, let’s go.”


	4. Chapter 4

Karen was sure she was going to go insane.

 

Her head was still pounding slightly, but with the painkillers, it wasn’t too bad. Her worry for Frank, however, was only growing with each passing minute. It didn’t help that there wasn’t actually anything to distract her from her thoughts in Jessica’s apartment; it was absolutely bare, safe for some empty whiskey bottles, a landline phone, and furniture. The only personal effects that Karen had were the clothes on her back – everything else had been taken by the police as evidence – and she wasn’t supposed to go near the windows, either.

 

By now, it was late evening already. Claire had left about six hours ago for her shift at Metro-General, and Karen was left alone with her thoughts.

 

When she’d woken up late this morning, it had taken her a few moments and some fillers from Jessica and Claire to help her remember what happened. As soon as she did, however, there was only one thought on her mind.

 

Frank.

 

If it had already been 24 hours since someone tried to kill her, and given that the attempt had happened in broad daylight and the police was acting as if it had been successful, it must have been all over the news already. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Frank must be thinking, and how he’d react to the news. She wanted to call him right away, but without her phone, she had no means of contacting him. So she’d pleaded with Jessica to contact David, and Jessica had finally, grudgingly agreed. Unfortunately, talking to David had only confirmed her fears and now she was trying to stop herself from spiraling into worse and worse images of Frank’s current physical and emotional state.

 

A bit after midnight there was a noise at the door and Jessica walked in carrying Frank over her shoulder, David hot on her tail.

Karen pressed her hand against her mouth when she saw the state Frank was in. Jessica carried him into the bathroom and placed him in the tub.

“We’ve got to get all that blood off him. I’m not really sure what of it is his,” she said.

“Thank you,” Karen said earnestly, her eyes moist. Jessica paused shortly and nodded.

“I need a drink, what about you?” she asked David, who followed her back into the living room after he’d thrown one more look at Frank’s unconscious form.

Karen wetted a towel and carefully began to wipe the blood off Frank’s face. Luckily, most of it didn’t seem to be his, save for a few scratches and cuts. There were also a few bruises that were starting to turn a nasty color, but all in all, Frank seemed to be in a much better state than she’d seen him at times in in the past. His expression was peaceful, and Karen’s heart reached out of him at the thought of the pain he must have been in the last 36 hours.

When her gaze wandered to Frank’s chest, Karen paused and furrowed her brow underneath her bandage. She reached out with her hand and touched the flimsy jacket on which he had sprayed the skull. David had not been wrong earlier, Frank really had not planned on surviving the night. Suddenly, Karen got incredibly angry at Frank, and whacked on his vest-less chest with the palm of her hand. At that, Frank suddenly woke up with a strangled noise. He tried to sit up as he looked around disorientedly. 

“Shhh, shh, Frank, it’s ok, you’re safe, I’m safe,” Karen tried to soothe him. Frank rapidly blinking eyes found hers, and he fell back ever so slightly. She reached out and intertwined one of his hands with hers.

“Wha’ happened?” he said grunted.

Karen kneaded his hand with hers.

“You almost got yourself killed because of me. Why aren’t you wearing your vest?” she asked a bit harsher than intended, but despite the relief of seeing him awake, she was still so very angry with him.

Frank looked down at himself with a frown and seemed to collect his thoughts. Then his head whipped up to her.

“You ‘ere dead,” he said with a rough voice, staring at her and still blinking in quick succession. “Shot in the head by some greedy son-of-a-bitch.” His gaze fell to their intertwined hands as if he were seeing them for the first time.

Karen dropped her forehead to his.

“No, I’m safe, I’m here,” she whispered and reached out with her other hand to caress the back of his head. She pressed a passionate kiss to his lips.

Frank closed his eyes and breathed heavily. When he opened them again, he looked utterly lost and scared.

“Thought I’d lost you,” he murmured and his hands cradled her face. “’was just done. Couldn’t do it again. Just couldn’t,” he said, imploring her to understand.

Karen’s eyes filled with tears. “I understand,” she said fervently and pressed a firm kiss to his forehead. “I do.”

 

When Frank was finally cleaned up and his wounds treated, Karen and he joined David and Jessica in the living room. Jessica was lounging on an old sofa while David was sitting in a dilapidated arm chair with his elbows on his knees and his forehead leant on his fists. Both looked up when Frank and Karen entered.

“Thanks for getting me outta there,” Frank said to Jessica, his voice still rough. She just saluted with two fingers and took another sip from the bottle of whiskey she was holding. Frank turned to David.

“Thanks,” he said. David just nodded.

Frank and Karen sat down on two foldable chairs that were standing around.

“What are you going to do now?” David asked. “Karen’s officially dead and you’re the most wanted man in town, again. I really don’t think Homeland will be happy about your little shooting spree, either, after they gave you the makings for a fresh start.”

Frank scowled. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ma gonna go away. Leave town, start over.”

“You going, too?” Jessica asked looking at Karen.

“Yes,” Karen said at the same time that Frank said “no.”

The two of them looked at each other.

“You’re not leaving me here. I’m going with you,” Karen said determinedly.

“I’m gonna be a man on the run. You really want that for your life? Bet ya that Mahoney can easily resurrect you from the dead. You can stay here, continue with your life,” Frank shot back.

“No. Not without you. I’m coming with you,” Karen insisted. Jessica rolled her eyes and dropped her head back against the sofa.

Frank was about to reply something when Karen cut him off.

“No, Frank. End of discussion. We’re in this together,” she said firmly.

Frank leant forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “Ok,” he conceded.

“Awesome, we’ve got a plan,” Jessica said with a fake smile. “How’re you going to get out of town, though? Your face is all over the news once more. Also, you’re gonna need money.”

“I can drive you out of state,” David suggested.

Frank shook his head. “Just across the river’s enough. Got a storage unit there. Has everything we’ll need,” he said.

Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Everything, huh?”

Frank just nodded but gave no further explanation.

“What about Karen’s stuff? Wouldn’t there be things you want to take with you?” David asked.

Before Karen could reply, Frank said “Yeah, we can drop by her place on the way there and get what’s important.”

Jessica sighed. “That’s too dangerous. The whole town’s looking for you. I’ll take her. We go in and out through the fire escape.”

Karen inclined her head.

“That’d be great,” she said.

 

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door. “It’s me, open up,” sounded Brett’s voice.

Karen and Frank looked at each other. Jessica dragged herself to the door and pointed him towards the living room.

Brett stalked straight towards Frank and Karen, Karen’s purse in hand.

“This is what I get for saving her life? Another Punisher episode?” he said through gritted teeth.

Frank had the decency to look sheepish. Karen reached out to Brett.

“Brett, I’m so sorry, really. It was a huge misunderstanding. I’m so grateful that you kept me safe, really,” she said apologetically.

Brett angrily gripped the bunched-up purse in his hand.

“I guess I should have known what’d happen when you’d get shot. You made it very clear that he’d been looking out for you back in the incident in the hotel last November,” he said, still fuming.

“Look, man, I’m really sorry. You saved Karen’s life, I owe you for that. If you wanna take me in, I’m ok with that,” Frank said looking up at him. Karen’s head whipped around to him.

“No, Frank!” she hissed.

Brett pinched the bridge of his nose with two of his fingers.

“You made my precinct’s job a hell of a lot easier with your … activities the last two days. That’s why I’m giving you 12 hours to get out of this city before my guys are going to track you down.” Karen breathed a sigh of relief. “But if I ever see either of you again, or if I hear about you stepping outside of the law anywhere in this country I’m going to tell the FBI everything I know.”

Karen and Frank nodded.

“Thank you, Brett,” Karen said earnestly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Brett huffed and threw her purse at her. Then he turned around, curtly nodded at Jessica, and left.

Karen dug through her purse.

“I should probably destroy that,” she said as she pulled out her phone.

“Yep,” Jessica said. She took the phone from Karen’s and crushed it with her bare hand.

Karen raised her eyebrows.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Leave the purse in your apartment. When you go there, take only what you need. No toiletries and shit. It can’t look like you left,” Frank instructed her.

“Ok, let’s go then. We’ll be back in 20 minutes. You two can figure out where you’re going in the meantime,” Jessica said.

 

A few minutes later, Karen couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Jessica had wrapped an arm around Karen’s middle and was jumping with her from roof to roof until they finally reached Karen’s building. They climbed down the fire escape into Karen’s apartment.

“You got 3 minutes,” Jessica said as she looked around.

Karen dropped her hand bag in its usual spot and hastily walked into her bedroom. She stuffed a few essentials into a reusable shopping bag from a local supermarket – underwear, a set of pajamas, a pair of jeans, two t-shirts, two plain pullovers and a baseball cap. She then quickly shrugged out of her clothes that she’d been wearing for almost two days now, and put on jeans, t-shirt, a sports jacket, and sneakers. There weren’t many sentimental items she wanted to bring; there was that photo of her, Matt and Foggy, but it was an easy way to figure out who she was, so she left it behind. Kevin’s photo did go into the bag, though, but without the frame.

When she came back into the living area, Jessica was already waiting by the window. She was holding a bottle of whiskey that Karen was sure had previously been in her kitchen cupboard.

“Ready?” Jessica asked.

Karen nodded and let her gaze sweep around the apartment one last time.

“If you want any of the stuff in here, help yourself,” Karen said as she turned back to Jessica.

Jessica just nodded and gestured to the window. In a few steps, the two of them were back on the roof and on their way to Jessica’s place.

 

It was around 4.30 am when they arrived at a storage unit in New Jersey. When Frank opened the number lock, it revealed a grey SUV with tinted windows. Frank walked around the back of the vehicle, opened the trunk, and lifted a partition hidden underneath the carpet. It held four different bags.

“Cash, clothes, necessities, guns,” he listed as he pointed at them. He opened the first bag and it was filled to the rim with money.

David stared at it disbelievingly.

“How much is that?” he asked.

“Enough,” Frank just responded. He took a few bills out of the bag, handed some of them to Karen and stuffed the rest in his pockets. Then he zipped the bag back up and opened the third bag.

“Necessities, huh?” Karen laughed as she saw its contents. There were wigs, glasses, a bag with several IDs, along with some tooth brushes, tooth paste, deodorant, two towels, and several bottles of water. Frank flipped through the IDs and handed one to Karen, whose eyes grew wide as she stared at it. The driver’s license bore her picture but the name Anna Saley. She looked up to Frank, and her insides constricted with affection. She touched his upper arm.

“Looks like you’ve been planning this for a long time,” she said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Frank didn’t look at her.

“Thought it might come in handy. Didn’t know what was gonna happen with Billy, and with you constantly calling out New York’s greatest scum…” he said as he pulled another license out of the bag for himself, took two bottles of water from the bag, and closed it again.

“You need a jacket?” he asked as his hand hovered over the second bag.

Karen shook her head.

“’k,” Frank said. “We also got blankets in the back seat.”

He still opened the bag, though, pulled out some clothes for himself, and quickly changed on the spot. Then he put the bloody clothes he’d been wearing into a trash bag he produced from somewhere underneath the duffels.

Finally, he opened the bag containing the guns. He took out a .380 and handed it to Karen, and then tugged another gun in the back of his trousers.

“Right,” he said as he closed the trunk. Both of them turned to David who was looking at them with an inscrutable expression, and then passed Karen a piece of paper with an e-mail address.

“Message that when you’re somewhere safe. Can’t be tracked,” he said. Karen nodded and put the paper in the back pocket of her pants. She hugged him tightly.

“Thank you for everything,” she said. David ran his hand across his nose and ducked his head. Then he turned to Frank.

The two of them looked at each other silently for a few beats before Frank pulled David into an embrace and patted his back several times.

“Thanks,” he said. David smiled sadly.

“You saved my family, I’m saving yours,” he said.


	5. Epilogue 1: After

Six months later Karen and Frank were strolling over a Farmer’s market in a tiny town somewhere in Wyoming. They’d found a small house near a lake just outside the town, had bought it, and were now fixing it up. Frank was earning some money working as a handyman, while Karen had a job at the local library.

It was a beautiful day, still quite cold but the sun was out. They were buying some food for dinner and Frank was just paying for some carrots when Karen heard a soft bark.

She followed the sound a few stalls further down and was faced with several fenced areas containing different pets. A sign on one of the fences indicated that the animals were from a local shelter.

 

Suddenly, she saw them out of the corner of her eye. A grey pit bull and a golden retriever, about the same age, and probably no older than five months, were playing together in one of the kennels. She walked over to them and watched them with a smile.

“Hi there, I’m Tina. I work with the local animal shelter. Have our two buddies caught your eye?” A girl in her late teens appeared next to Karen.

“Yeah,” Karen breathed. “Are they up for adoption?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girl replied. “We got them when Mr. Maitzen died last month. You know, he’d been breeding a lot of dogs, but most of them stuck to their own kind when they were brought in. But those two’ve been all over each other ever since they first arrived. If you are thinking about adopting, you should know that we advise that those two be adopted together.”

“Thanks,” Karen said, and the girl wandered off to a family looking at some bunnies.

 

She could feel Frank appearing at her right side, the bag of groceries in his right hand.

“Found something you like?” he asked with an amused voice.

Karen tilted her head to the side and looked at him from underneath her eyelashes with a mischievous smile.

“Tina over there says that the two are best buddies and really shouldn’t be separated,” she said.

Frank huffed. “Does she now?” he asked with a smirk on his lips.

Karen swayed a bit and touched his shoulder with hers.

“You know that look doesn’t work with me,” Frank replied while he was still looking at the two dogs playing in front of him.

Karen intertwined both of her hands with his left as she pressed her body against his and just looked at him from the side.

“Karen, two dogs is crazy. They’re like kids. Need attention all the time,” Frank said as he kept looking straight ahead.

Karen squeezed his hand.

“Please?” she asked quietly.

Frank huffed.

“Ok, fine.”

 


	6. Epilogue 2: Why

“I can’t believe no-one is planning a single memorial for Karen,” Trish said with an irked voice. “She’s done a lot for this city.”

“The Bulletin had a small gathering at their office for all the staff,” Jess replied as she was researching her latest target online.

“Yes, but there should have been something for the public. I understand that her family wants to bury her in Vermont but this city owes her big time. She deserved better,” Trish said heatedly as gestured with her tablet. Then she paused. “Maybe I should organize something,” she added.

Jess’ head snapped up. “What? No. You really shouldn’t invest any time in that,” she said.

“No, I actually feel like I really should do this. This is what’s wrong with this world. There are people out there who put their life on the line every day to find the truth and then we just ignore it when they suffer the consequences,” Trish argued. She tapped on her tablet. “We need to find a good location. I’m going to put this out on twitter, those 2.3 million followers must be useful for something.”

Jessica looked up to the ceiling and sat up.

“Trish, put that away,” she said forcefully. Trish looked up.

“Why? Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to come, I know better than that,” she said.

Jessica let out a long sigh and hung her head.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you,” she said, fixing Trish with a resigned look.

Trish frowned. “I promise. Why?”

Jessica took a deep breath.

“Karen is not dead. It was just a ruse to stop people coming after her cos Fisk had offered a reward of 2 million to anyone who killed her,” she said with an impassive voice. “She only got a graze in the shooting outside her office.”

“What? Where is she now?” Trish asked in confusion.

“She left New York with her … boyfriend, I guess. No idea where they are now,” Jessica replied.

Trish leant her head on one side.

“Why don’t you tell me everything from the start?”

 

About ten minutes later Jessica had told Trish the story from start to finish.

Trish raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I guess we should be happy for them? Though I’m not really sure how I feel about Frank Castle,” she offered.

Jessica shrugged, and Trish suddenly fixed her with an impenetrable gaze.

“Why’d you help them?” she asked. “This all sounds like straight from a movie. You hate that kind of sentimental stuff. Why’d you help them?”

Jessica didn’t look at her and didn’t say anything either, but Trish just waited patiently. Finally, Jessica caved and crossed her arms.

“She reminded me of you,” she said as she finally met Trish’s gaze.

“What, blonde and blue-eyed?” Trish asked, half-jokingly.

“A bit. But mostly just, you know. Obsessed with making a difference with her reporting, far too determined for her own good, sticks by the people she loves no matter how much they mess up,” she explained reluctantly.

Trish’s face softened and she wrapped Jessica into a firm hug.

“Yeah, sounds like a couple worth saving,” she said with a smile.


End file.
